The sun stayed beaming down as the septet walked through the Castle streets. Sidestreets and passages dotted walls down the spiral walkway that moved out from the castle. While Castle Guarde was located in the center hill/mountain top of Seva, the Castle Town itself was a distance away. This fact was made all the more aware as Costello had to keep up with 3 experienced adventures, a bastion of stamina, and a small dragon after a form of torture these monsters dared to call a "workout." The rocky streets underfoot and the hustle and bustle of other citizens dealing with the average parts of life. The smell of old paper and fresh books, the feeling of community enveloped the area. The love didn't extend to the group, however. The entire way there, the lizard could see Liam trying to put up a degrading front of professionalism, while the Oshawatt,"Arno." as he was called, tried to keep from cringing at his lack of tact. Zata and Floe weren't his top priority anyway, seeing as Zata wasn't worth the effort and Floe's persona was pretty surface level. No, the big issue came with the Lucario. She was indeed nearly 3 or 4 times taller than him. A vibrant fur covered her as her steel shoulder guards and ivory spikes seemed to glow in the daylight. The fur was not even, some of it seemed purposely overgrown in certain spots, her back specifically seemed combed over furiously. While she was young, she was experienced. This was a true adventurer. This was an issue. She was a threat.

There was no good reason for this suspicion. He had nothing to hide, there was nothing to hide. He had nothing. Yet always seemed to catch himself staring daggers into the back of her head. He noticed this, and he could catch it, then Styles must've caught it long ago. Was the issue that she reported to Thea directly? No, his...intimidation was not passed along to her, Thea was a physical fear. But this... this was something that hit deeper. Styles had to have some sort of authority. Why else would she be so closely associated with Thea? There was also the chance that this was the norm for her guild but that was put near the bottom of the list of reasons why hanging with the blue wolf wasn't particularly good for Costello's mental state. There was an aura of pressure around her that he couldn't track the source of. Just like with Braviary...

Usually there was an interruption by the grave consciousness nestled in the synapses of Costello's brain. Yet he was greeted with an odd silence. There was no serene moment of clarity or sudden realization brought upon by its absence. No... instead there was a hollow feeling in his mind that seemed to grow larger and larger, enveloping him in a cranial fog. It was supposed to help him, heal him, keep him set and steady. It hurt to seek it out, and in turn forced him to be hyper-aware of his situation. He was a Treecko stuck in an organization with Pokemon he "at best" considered trustworthy strangers, what an absolute-

"Ok, we're here. Steel yourselves and protect your jaws!"

The gruff voice of the Lucario broke Costello out of his spiral and made him realize he was standing near a sign. To be more specific,he was in a crowd that was standing near a sign as the Oshawatt and the Helioptile formed a poor mon's phalanx. It was wooden, smooth face with rough poles and rope holding it up. The craftsmanship was sturdy but it wasn't pretty. On this sign was a variety of posters. Some were for Pokemon calling for help from other dungeons around the area. Others were wanted sheets and a variety of odd requests,as Costello's eye was caught on a "Dungeon tea party." Of course it was hard to glimpse the rest of the signage as he found himself in a tumble with the other Pokemon in the crowd.

"Alright, you bunch of runts, I got some trainees to teach! Move it!" the blue lycan pushed and shoved her way through the crowd as Arno followed, some light shoves greeting him and he giving them back. While Zata seemed to adapt her round of roughhousing to an odd amount of ease and everyone seemed to avoid the rapidly freezing area around Floe, the two rookies were left to fend for themselves. Liam responded to the sudden shift in social atmosphere by frantically jostling the mons around him,in a way that seemed to create a mini moshpit around him, leaving him ultimately stuck in the same place. Costello on the other hand, had given his body up to the flow of confrontation, his green mass of flesh floating on the waves of energy. This odd bout of chaos was ended as quickly as it began as the sound of Arno's voice broke through the mass.

From the crowd, a white furry stub reached out from the masses with a poster in grasp. "Styles! I got it!"

The Lucario gave a grunt of affirmation as she scooped up the rookies. "Pardon, move it, out of the way!" After some light nudging and maybe some kicking, Styles finally settled on dropping them a distance away from the crowd, with Zata and Floe close behind.

"Aw come on Styles, "said Liam. "I was this close to getting through! Ya can't just move a mate like that when they're on the cusp of success." He proceeded to put his paws as close together as possible without them making contact.

This action only seemed to bring Styles a light laugh. "Little guy, you had no idea what the goal was out there. I'm pretty sure you were too busy trying to look tough than you were actually listening. Not to mention your friend deciding he wanted to crowd surf his way to getting a job."

For the lizard, this was an offense of the greatest order, he was in the middle of the crowd, getting thrown around the grass for a goal he didn't know about. "For the record, I had no intention of getting towards any goal, I just didn't want to get beat up for something I didn't understand," he rebutted.

Such smart alecness was returned with a flick to the head. "Well Rule 1 kid. Everyone in Seva and in the guild is hungry for work, can't just wait for nice things to come to you. Rule 2: Protect your face at all times. Looking at you bird-kid. Nice lump by the way."

While Liam rubbed the slight against his flesh and Costello nursed his, a small scoff came from Arno as he handed a flyer to Styles and a mean glare from Liam in response.

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"I'm looking for a right tussle! Come and get some iffn you have the stones" said the flyer in a weirdly intense manner.

"Sooo, I assume the job request is what we all came here to get," asked Floe, remarkably untouched from the encounter both physically and mentally.

Zata on the other hand was much less amused at the situation. "If it wasn't, I'm not gonna go back in there. One of the bastards bit me."

Another chuckle from the Lucario. "Heh, yeah old Gog will do that. Small heads on a Girafarig are bound to bite."

"It happens again, I'm biting it off."

"Sure, sure," shrugged off Styles. "What we came for, was this!" Unfurling the paper, Styles revealed a flyer, rough in its edges and seemingly reused with the dates crossed out and replaced. While a crudely drawn picture took up most of the space, there was some oddly remarkable handwriting. "This right here is a fighting request from some old friends. Now usually, Team Themis usually scuffles with them but now its time for Team... "you guys" to give them a run.

Floe tilted her head in response to this new assignment. "May I ask who we're fighting exactly? And why? As part of a guild and the rescue team system, isn't our job to deal with more "dungeon based" tasked instead of putting down random challenges?"

"Good point, but there are actually alot more of these than you'd think. There are always a couple weirdos who wanna fight in a dungeon. In any case, the person you're fighting is Drestal,this Perserkker that used to be a trainer back at the guild. Basically, he's already settled down and has kids and all that, but with the way they're wired, Old man puts out requests cause he wants a piece of action every once and awhile. Sparring sessions in his town and stuff."

At this point, it was Costello's turn to be confused. "And we're the ones to deal with this instead of anyone else because...?"

"Because as trainees, I can assign you to any job I don't want to do!"

If there was anything about this Organization that Costello would always keep in mind, it was that all of their members had the most annoying grins.

...

...

...

Another fact that Costello would remember would be the free transport on those carriages. While the one that Braviary ordered seemed much more in the first class variety, the ones the guild had access to were much more economy class. Why he knew what economy class was in the first place was anyone's guess but it didn't matter. Carried by two Mudsdale with the logo of the Muddy Trails company plastered on the side, the carriage itself stopped outside some small town a few miles from Seva. The dust in the air seemed to be connected with everything, coming off the houses as the soft wind blew. The grass was a bit overgrown, the houses themselves were definitely built by family. As Costello and the rest hopped off, Styles lined the 4 up while Lumi and Arno stayed at her side.

"Alright, I'm gonna explain the situation to Drestal and his friends. He'll be game."

"So he's just gonna accept fighting 3 novices," replied Zata.

"Three," queried Costello.

"No offense Evergreen, but you're outmatched by your friend, and he's just been escorted by his father through dungeons. I've actually gone through-"

"Ok, quick note. You're gonna stop that," said Styles in a tone that made it clear that this was a command, not a suggestion. "There's a difference between having more experience and letting that go to your head. End of the day, all 4 of you are bottom of the roster, so don't try and to make fake boundaries to make yourself superior. " As she finished her admonishing, Styles began to walk off into the town leaving the 6 of them to their own devices. "Lumi, Arno, watch em while I talk shop."

"So why is it that you always get top billing?"

"Seniority is the most likely reason."

"You think its cause of the fight I had with the rookie?"

Lumi adjusted her goggles. "That would also account for most of it. yes."

Liam patted Arno on his back and gave him a cheeky smile. "Ey, it's all put behind us, water under the bridge, right mate?"

Arno quickly separated himself from his lagomorphic compatriot. "Yeah. Issues over and done with."

Zata seemed supremely disinterested in this turn of conversation and as she settled down and yawn, felt it was her turn to get something more intriguing stirring. "So, how long have you two been in the business? By the fact you've apparently got some sway with someone as high up as her, you must have some sort of influence."

A soft smile formed on Lumi's face. "We are just Juniors, same as you. Though we are closer to getting over the hill."

"How long will it take", asked Costello. " A month? Maybe 3?"

"Heh, Lumi's been here for 7 months, I've been here 5. So, unless you save the world or blackmail Thea, you aren't gonna move up that quickly. Styles says that we'll be able to move up about a year or two from now."

"The both of you must be dedicated then," said Floe, returning Lumi's smile in kind.

"I would think so Floe. I've put in too much effort to allow myself to give up."

Arno posed up next to Lumi with the glint of determination in his eye. "And I'd never let her live it down if she dropped out before me."

"There is also that as well, yes."

From behind the laughing figure of Arno, there was Styles. And beside her was a greyish figure.

From Autumn Embers, Costello knew what a Meowth looked like. Maysi was a Meowth. This... wasn't one. It had the same features of it, same overall body shape, two legs and what not. The issue was that this thing was built for combat. Its coin was grey, and the top of its head was solid black. Silver seemed to have polished the tips of its horn and what Costello could only call a beard hung down from its chin. At its side were paws respective to the felines but traveling down the paws were claws that seemed to extend and retract with barely a flex of a muscle.

"Guys. This is Drestal"

Do not worry. Do not assume. Prepare yourself. This is an evolution of Meowth from the Rain Continent. This is a Perrserker.